A Promise to be Kept
by EllyBeth
Summary: "You promised you wouldn't leave me.." The miko said as her tears splashed into the dirt along with the rain. "..I know." He replied.
1. Chapter 1

So.. Yes, this is Kagome/Sesshomaru.

I'm so very excited! This is my first fic.

This will be the first and last time you will see this. I DON'T OWN SQUAT.

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"Yo, woman! Hurry up! You're taking forever!" A hanyou clashed in a red shouted from behind a tree. A sword was positioned beside him, the sharp tip set into the dirt. The male rested his hand on the hilt, his legs folded together in front of him. He was leaning against an old tree, his head turned slightly to the right. He sniffed the air, but soon realized his mistake when a small rock flew by his head. He stood up quickly and faced the fuming female.

"Hey! What was that for!? You nearly knocked my eye out!" He yelled. His eyes widened quickly when he heard a squeal as another stone came his way. He turned to dodge the rock and hid behind the tree for cover, cursing under his breath.

"Inuyasha! You should know better! After you sliced that spider youkai in half, you got guts all over me!" A small female screamed while covering up her body with a towel. She tightened her grip on another rock, ready to throw it if she needed to.

"Kagome! You've been in there for almost an hour!" Inuyasha whined, even though he hated the smell of guts and blood all over her. He liked when she smelled clean, her natural scent a remedy to headaches.

"Yeah, well YOU try getting this gunk out of your hair! I still don't understand how you manage to never get dirty!" She accused. She sat back down into the warm water with the towel wrapped around her, rinsing her hair for what seemed the hundredth time. Finally satisfied with it, she sighed contently.

'If only I could be in here forever..' She thought to herself. She was brought back into reality when Inuyasha grunted. She closed her eyes in annoyance, forcing herself not to say "the word." She slowly stood up again and wrung out her hair, walking over to the edge of the small hot spring. She looked towards where Inuyasha was sitting, biting her lip.

"Inuyasha..?" Kagome asked.

"I ain't lookin', Kagome. Go ahead and get dressed." The hanyou said from behind the tree. He places his sword in its sheath, his ears twitching.

Kagome nodded and took off the towel, frowning at the bruise that was beginning to form on her stomach. She lightly poked it with her finger, mumbling a small "Ow." She sighed again, grabbing a tank top that has been worn way too many times. She pulled it over her head, letting the fabric cling to her semi wet body. She grabbed her pajama pants, along with her panties, glad that she had the luxury of having a clean pair. She put them on along with her pajamas.

'I'm running out of clean clothes.. I need to go back, soon..' She thought. After wringing as much water out of her towel she could, she put it inside of her bag. She made sure that the towel wasn't anywhere near her clean and dry clothes, which wasn't a lot. After the spider youkai, her school uniform was ruined.

'That was the last one, too.. The only clean clothes I have left are these pajamas and a sundress.. How am I going to fight in a sundress?' She asked herself. She thanked the heavens that her bra was still intact.

"Okay, Inuyasha, I'm ready." She grabbed the backpack and slung it over her shoulders. Inuyasha stepped out from behind the trees, a bored expression on his face. He walked over to Kagome, standing in front of her. He looked at her face, noticing a small blush rising to her cheeks. He loved that blush.

"Keh, Come on, woman. I'm hungry." The blush was replaced with a scowl, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance. She stomped her foot and crossed her arms, making a small "Hmph" sound. He turned away, grinning. He chuckled and lowered himself, letting her climb onto his back. Once in place, he began to run towards camp, occasionally leaping through the trees. He landed and gently placed her down, then turned to leap in a nearby tree.

"Ah, lady Kagome. You had a nice bath, I assume." A monk named Miroku asked. Kagome blushed and nodded, walking over to where a fire was going. She set her bag down, opening it and getting out the towel. She laid it out on a flat rock, letting it dry.

She stood up and looked at the group, noticing something was amiss. She counted the heads of her group members.

'One, two, three..' She double checked.

"Where are Shippo and Kirara?" Kagome asked.

"They're getting water from the stream." Sango, her best friend and sister answered. Kagome looked at her and smiled. The Taijiya smiled back, settling down under a tree. Kagome grabbed her sleeping bag and placed it under her own tree, noting that it was cold outside. She walked back over to her bag and fetched several packages of ramen out, along with a pot to boil them in; sighing when she noticed the stock was running low.

"Guys.. I have to go back, soon." She said. Sango nodded and Miroku did as well, but Inuyasha didn't even acknowledge her. She looked up at him and tilted her head slightly, staring at the hanyou. He was sitting on a large tree branch, staring into the forest. She huffed and cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Inuyasha! Ramen!" She called out. His ears twitched, but to her dissatisfaction, that's all she got out of him. She looked back at Sango, asking for an explanation. She shrugged, not having one, looking at Miroku. He looked up and Inuyasha and pondered on what was going on in his friend's head.

'He's probably thinking about her..' Kagome bit her lip in frustration, averting her eyes to the ground. She suddenly felt angry, so very angry. Not at the hanyou sitting in the tree, but at herself. She felt selfish for wanting Inuyasha to think about her, and only her. Selfish, because she wanted to be the only one that Inuyasha would hug, touch, talk to. She wanted to have possession, and make everyone leave and get out of the picture

But only for a second.

It wasn't her fault that the hanyou thought about the dead miko. She was his first love. She could never compete with her. She was more powerful, more controlled with her abilities. She held the respect for others, this dead priestess. All Kagome could do was sense shards and shoot arrows. And even one of those qualities didn't matter anymore! There was no need for sensing the jewel shards. They killed Naraku long ago, almost a year ago, now that she thought about it. The jewel was completed, and the wish was made. Now all Kagome had was her bow and arrows. Not that she was bad at shooting; in fact, she was quiet talented. She became a skilled archer, hitting almost all of her targets perfectly. Why would need to use archery, you ask? Well, you can't forget about the youkai that were still on the rampage. Lately, there have been a lot of attacks on villages, leaving nothing but destruction behind. Just a couple of hours ago they killed a spider youkai that was snacking on the women of the village, the men already drained of blood. When the spider caught sight of the skilled fighters running towards him, he began to throw the bodies at them. Kagome wanted to vomit when she remembered the sight.

"Hey, Kagome, what's wrong?" a small voice brought her back into reality. She looked at the small kit who was staring up at her with confusion. She smiled brightly and shook her head, reaching down and picking up the little boy.

"Nothing, Shippou, nothing is wrong. Just thinking." Kagome snuggle the kit under her chin, nuzzling him. The fox snuggled back placing his paw on his adopted mother's chest. He felt warm in her arms, happy and content. Closing his eyes, he sighed and nodded. He could smell sadness and guilt in her scent, a smell that made the hair on his neck rise.

"Okay, Kagome. I believe you." He lied to her as he sneaked a peak up at Inuyasha.

'Stupid Inuyasha! He's hurting Kagome again!' He thought to himself, sticking out his tongue at the hanyou.

"Shippou, are you hungry?" Kagome asked. "Because I have a bag of chips that has your name on it!" Kagome set Shippou down on her sleeping bag, fishing in her bag of wonders. She pulled out the last bag of chips that she had, handing it to the Kitsune. He accepted it gratefully, opening it with practice and ease.

Kagome giggled at how used Shippou was to things like this. Heck, he was more of a pro at it than her. He could open 25 lolli pop wrappers in 1 minute, if he wanted to. She couldn't even open 1 in 5.

Come to think of it, he was getting smarter and older, but his shape hasn't changed much. He still looked like he was the age of 6, but Kagome knew much better. They had this conversation, before. Shippou was approximately 29 years old. 13 years older than Kagome, but he still had the mind of a child. Demons have the tendency to age slowly, so he wouldn't be a teenager until he was in his late 50's.

The feeling of her skin being pinched interrupted her thoughts as she slapped her neck. She brought back her hand where a cartoon flattened flea rested.

"Oh, Hello Myoga!" She happily greeted the old friend.

"Why hello there, lady Kagome. It's nice to taste y—I mean see you!" The flea replied as his body seemed to recover from the harsh smack. Kagome giggled at him, placing him on a nearby rock.

"Are you here for Inuyasha, Myoga?" Kagome asked.

"No, actually, lady Kagome. I'm here to see you. I have a request!" The flea hopped up and down.

"What sort.. Of request..?" Kagome asked slowly, sitting down across from him. Inuyasha now seemed to be paying attention to them, along with everyone else in the group. The flea gulped and wiped his brow, smiling a shy smile.

"Well, you see, lady Kagome, as I was passing through a village earlier this week, I noticed something was amiss. There was a sickness going around, and it wasn't good. It was like everyone was a living corpse. Everyone was feverish, and they walked around with a glazed look. The only actual healthy human was the Head man of the village, and even he was showing signs of becoming sickly. We started up a conversation, and he said that everyone in the village suddenly got sick out of nowhere. He asked if there was anyone I knew that was kind enough, and smart enough to help them.. I sort of mentioned you, Lady Kagome." The flea explained.

Kagome looked at the flea as if he was crazy. Her? Heal an entire village? Hey, she might be a miko, but she wasn't THAT good! Sure, she could heal tons of wounds, make sick people better, but only one at a time. A whole village? This flea was crazy! But, alas, her overly caring a nice personality won over. She immediately pitied the village.

"Sure, Myoga, I'd love to help, but first I need to get some supplies from my home. How far away is the village from here?" She asked.

"It is a journey of two days on foot, Kagome. Are you sure you can do it?" Myoga wanted to make sure.

"Of course! The Bone Eaters well is only 1 hour's flight away from here, Kirara can take me there, and then I she can fly me to the village." She looked at Sango. "Is that okay?" She inquired. The slayer smiled and nodded, happy to help Kagome in any way.

Kagome smiled back, clapping her hands together, almost squishing Myoga again.

"Then it's settled! I'll leave for home tomorrow!" She stated.

"Woah Woah Woah! No one is going anywhere. Kagome, what are you thinking? You aren't going there, by yourself! You're too weak!" Inuyasha yelled as he stepped in front of her. He looked almost angry, his arms crossed, an ignorant look on his face. Kagome also met up to his stance, crossing her arms as well. She would NOT back down.

"Excuse me, Inuyasha, but since when did you start to make my decisions?" She asked, her tone a bit crisp.

"Since ya started to make stupid ones for yourself! You aren't going, and that's final!" Inuyasha yelled.

Kagome stared at the hanyou, lost for words. She was shocked, at how he was being even more stubborn than usual. She then got even angrier.

"Inuyasha.. SIT!" She commanded quite loudly.

And he did. She walked to where he was face first in the dirt, tapping her foot.

"You do not tell me what to do, Inuyasha!" Kagome huffed and looked hopingly at her best friend. Sango nodded, understanding what she was asking. Kagome began to pack up her bag again, and mounted on top of Kirara. She waved at Shippou, Sango, and Miroku. She didn't even look at Inuyasha.

"Myoga, meet me at the bone eaters well in two days at noon. I'll be ready by then." She said before she took off towards the way to get home. After riding an hour, a long hour Kagome would consider it, she finally landed a couple of feet away from the well. She Stepped off and hugged her feline friend, petting her head.

"Thank you, Kirara. You can go back, now." She said before the fire cat flew off.

Kagome was so sick and tired of this. How many times had she been in the same exact fight with Inuyasha? Way too many to count. It made her sick to her stomach, all of the fighting. Sometimes when things got really bad, she got physically sick, throwing up and having fevers. But this was recently.

'I guess the term, "You make me sick"' is actually true.' She thought to herself while sitting on the edge of the well, her bag sitting at her feet. She looked up at the sky, the sun starting to set. It would be night, soon, and she wanted to get a nice long shower at home, even if she took one earlier in the spring today. Nothing could beat a modern shower. She closed her eyes and could almost imagine it, the nice hot water, the smell of her favorite coconut shampoo, the-

"Well, well, well.. Look what we have here, brother. A fine woman, waiting for us." A deep and dark voice said.

"Yes, brother, waiting just for us." A matching voice said.

Kagome snapped her head up, her eyes wide. Her hand immediately reached down to her bag to grab her bow, but then realized. She forgot her bow. Of course she didn't bring it. She was rushed out, too angry at the idiot Inuyasha to bring it.

"Uh oh." She said before gulping.

"Uh oh is right, little girl. Oh, you look so delicious! I could just eat you now! All of you!" A voice from her right said.

"Brother, save some for me! You never share anymore!" She heard the voice on her left whine.

Kagome looked to both sides, and then pursed her lips. Great. Just what she needed. Two youkai fighting over her, slowly closing in. How much better could this day get? She sighed and pinched the skin in between her eyes, annoyed.

"Look, guys. I'm so not in the mood." She said, almost growling. She stood up, her bag on her back, one hand on her hip, the other still pinching her bridge.

"What a weird but wonderful sight you are, little girl. You might not be in the mood.." The right side said.

"But we are." The left side completed.

They were right, of course. She was still in her pajamas, barefoot. Her pajama pants were black, with cute white little bears on them, all tiny and smiling. Her tank top was black, but it was very washed out, due to being worn almost every night for the past three weeks, without being washed with laundry detergent.

"Yes.. Yes, brother, let's eat her now!" The right said. Soon two large toad youkai stepped out from the trees. They were hideous, their mouths stretching from ear to ear, goo and slime covering their whole body. They wore no clothes, probably because the goo would stick to it. They were both a sickly green color, reminding Kagome of a swamp. She turned around and stepped onto the well, about to jump in. She stepped into the well, expecting to start falling towards the bottem, but instead something hit her. Not mentally, but physically. Something was rammed into her stomach, doubling her over, carrying her away from the well. What hit her was some sort of metal, or a strong and hard object. She couldn't scream, because she couldn't breathe. The wind was knocked out of her, and the pain from the bruise that was already there being hit made her cry. She couldn't move either, the pain from the blow too hard. Then she realized her eyes were closed. She slowly opened them, expecting to see something atrocious and petrifying..

She wasn't even close.

It was much worse.

She was on the shoulder of man in white clothes, and well-made armor.

She was thrown over the shoulder of..

"S-Sesshomaru..."

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Thank you for reading! Please comment.


	2. Chapter 2

In the forest beyond the bone eaters well was a man. He was a handsome man, a man that made female youkai and humans swoon at his body, his complex, his beautiful yet deadly voice. But he didn't care. They were all stupid, anyways. He didn't care about anyone but himself. Well, maybe he cared a bit for the young ward that followed him, but only because she's so innocent, and her scent reminds him of his mother.

His mother.

His mother was the reason he hated humans so. She was a cruel woman, a woman with no compassion. A woman who was strict, and was always right. She was never a violent person; she let people do that for her. And she hated humans. Almost more than Sesshomaru did. People say that Sesshomaru takes after her, and he doesn't disagree. What is the point of compassion? You get nothing in return. Sometimes you do, but it's usually a stab in the back.

Compassion. He laughed at the word.

His heart was as cold as ice. No, it was colder than ice. His heart was an unreachable abyss that no one could be welcomed in. Not even Rin. She was just something to stop his headaches. Like he said, her scent reminds him of his mother.

Sesshomaru was hunting. Recently, there has been a string of murders in his lands. Most of them were human, but some of them Youkai. Sesshomaru didn't care much for humans; in fact, he didn't care for them at all. But when youkai, and powerful ones at that, are being killed, Sesshomaru had to step in.

It was said that two toad youkai were sneaking around, tag teaming on women, eating their bodies. They ate everything but their heads, feet, and hands. Blood is always left behind, along with some sort of gooey fluid. Sesshomaru sighed mentally. He hated toads.

He was searching through the woods in Inuyasha's forest, knowing that he would probably run into his half-brother. He didn't like that. Even though they were once allies to destroy a common enemy, Naraku, they were still on bad terms. After the jewel had been destroyed, Sesshomaru had no reason to be allied to him anymore. They were enemies again, and Sesshomaru planned on killing the little bastard sooner or later.

He was moving fast. Super-fast. So fast, no one could see him. And he was quiet. Not a leaf was being rustled, or a twig stepped on. No branches were hit, and no pinecones kicked. He was a deadly assassin, and he knew it. He was on the two toads scent, and that's when he smelled her. A scent no youkai could ever forget. It was beautiful, a luring scent, and he felt disgusted that he enjoyed it.

It was that damn wench.

How he hated her so. She was always talking, always in the way, always.. Being annoying! If there is one thing that Sesshomaru hated more than humans, was annoying humans. And she fit right into that description. Sesshomaru slowed down, almost choosing to go avoid the human, but the scent of the two toads led right to her. Sesshomaru growled from the situation, cursing the Gods. He sped up again, noting that she was alone.

Good. If he wanted to kill her, no one would interrupt... But it seemed like two others wanted to do the same exact thing. Sesshomaru scanned the area around him. One toad to the left of him, and the other on the right. Kagome in front of him. She was standing, her hand placed on her hip, her other hand doing something that he could not see. She wasn't running, panicking, or even scared. All her scent revealed was… Annoyed.

Sesshomaru was confused, which took a lot. Two toad youkai were threatening to eat her, right at this very spot, and she didn't seem the least bit afraid. She looked like she was about to eat them instead.

'_How stupid_.' He thought to himself, still not moving from behind the trees. He watched at the two youkai stepped into the clearing, licking their disgusting lips. They were getting closer, but the girl didn't do anything, but turn around and face him. He stared right into her face, a kind face. But it was a foolish face. What was she doing? She stepped up onto the well, sighing again, and he could almost feel her breath on his neck, and he shivered.

'_Disgusting._' He thought. He watched at the miko put out one foot, and time slowed down. Sesshomaru suddenly leapt forward, slamming the miko onto his shoulder, jumping straight into the air, forming his youki cloud. He was above the toads, probably 40 feet. Both youkai yelled in anger, sounding identical.

"Silence." Sesshomaru lethally spoke. He formed his acid whip in a flash, dividing both of the youkai in half. Their bodies stood there for a moment, both of their faces locked in complete shock. After a couple of seconds of being sliced into two, they fell to the ground. Identical slices identical twins. Sesshomaru almost smiled.

He was floating until he noticed his name being spoken. He had almost forgotten about her. He was a bit surprised with himself. How could he forget about her scent? Her luscious, extravagant, delightful- Sesshomaru growled, but not at her. At himself. How could he let his mind get carried away like that? He was repulsed with himself. She was a gross human, and a bothersome one.

So.. Why did he just save her?

She was about to just execute herself, was she not?

Once she landed at the bottom of that well, she would have hit the ground, breaking every bone in her body. And Sesshomaru found that somewhat amusing. Seeing her die.. But he didn't want to.

He didn't know why he saved her. It was probably because he felt that he owed her something. She did restore his arm after the fight with Naraku, out of kindness. She was always doing that, being kind.

And he hated her for it.

He almost didn't accept the arm, but the offer was too much to pass. He knew of no other miko that would be willing to restore a Youkai's arm, without purposefully making it look wrong, or cursing it. No, she was the only miko that he could trust. It didn't matter that he hated her.

"Sesshomaru.. Why did you do that?" He heard her ask.

Then he got angry.

'_How dare she_!' His inner youkai screamed. Sesshomaru growled, tightening the grip he had around her legs. He heard a gasp of pain, and he smiled at it. It sounded beautiful. He swooped down and landed on top of the well, his legs parting the opening. He swung Kagome off of him, holding her tightly by the neck, right in front of him, her feet dangling in the hole of the well. His face showed no emotion, giving off no hints of what he was thinking. He tightened his grip, glaring.

Kagome gripped around his hands, not even kicking or fighting. She just wanted to breathe. She was scared, but not of him. She was scared that she wouldn't get to see Shippou or her friends ever again. She wasn't fighting, because she knew it would be pointless against him. He was strong, and she was weak.

Or so she thought.

In her head, she was a weakling, a little tiny bug that didn't matter. She was the gum that sticks to the bottom of your shoe when you walk in the street, or the worm that lives in the middle of a red juicy apple. Easily destroyed, and has no point in life. Inuyasha was right. She didn't even know how she's survived this long. But she would fight. For her friends and family.

"Let me down." She managed to say. Sesshomaru smirked evilly and did so, dropping her into the well. He expected her to scream and yell, but she didn't. He looked down and watched her fall, a sad expression on her face.

'_She wanted to die, so why not let her?_' he asked himself. He turned and began to walk away, expecting to hear a sickening "crunch", but instead, he didn't hear anything. He leisurely turned around and stood there, motionless, pondering.

'_The miko should have landed by now..._' He thought. He slowly walked over and looked down, noticing that she wasn't there. Sesshomaru stared into the dark bottom, his long silver hair swaying in the wind. He stared for what seemed like an hour, waiting for something to happen.

'_Where did she go?_' Sesshomaru asked himself. '_I can't feel her aura, yet her scent is still here and strong.. Strange_.'

It was so confusing, this situation. He threw her in, seeing the bottom of the well himself. He knew she should be dead now, or dying if that stupid bag that she was carrying on her back didn't break her fall. He turned around yet again and started walking.

He WILL find out what kind of magic this is, even if that meant threatening certain people.

Especially Kagome.

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Kagome landed on the other side of the well with a sore neck, and half broken legs. She sat at the bottom of the well for what seemed like hours, trying to figure out what just happened.

Did Sesshomaru just "save" Kagome? He couldn't have! He's the ice prince, the cold and deadly assassin! He cares for no one but himself. Why would he prevent Kagome from jumping into the well? Of course he didn't know about the well's magic, not many people did outside of their village. So it's logical for her to think that he tried to save her.

'Kami, he probably thought I was trying to kill myself..' She thought to herself. Kagome stood up and stretched out her neck and back. She rolled her head side to side a couple of times, and began to climb. She was soon to the top, and soon heading home. She opened the doors that led outside and she grinned, forgetting about the whole incident with Sesshomaru. She was home.

She ran towards the house, pacing at a steady jog. It was beginning to get dark outside, and she didn't like maneuvering around without being able to see, especially since the lights weren't on in the house. Kagome got to the front door and knocked.

"Mama? Souta?" She called out.

No one answered.

"Grandpa?" She called out louder.

No one answered.

'They must be out. I just came here at the wrong time.' She thought to herself.

She missed her family. It's been so long since she's been home. Kagome walked around the house to the backdoor and looked around for the spare key.

"I know it's here..Somewhere.." She finally found it and placed it into the keyhole and walked in. She breathed in the aroma of her home and her body went from frigid and tense to relaxed and relieved. She locked the door and placed the key on the table to her right and found her way to the stairs. She walked up them, her legs tired. They felt like they were rusty and old, and like they were about to fall off.

"I'm just stressed is all." She told herself. She opened the door to her room and flung herself on her bed, groaning with pleasure. She rolled around in it and smiled while looking up at the ceiling. Soon, her eyes were closing, and she was asleep.

She wasn't aware that a pair of golden eyes watched her every breath through her window.


End file.
